Boston Flowers Season 14 Recap

Author: Kidror

Welcome old and new readers to the Boston Flowers Season 14 Recap! As is our standard, the best way to begin coverage of a season is to cover the results of the previous Election.

Season 13 Election Recap

• The Wild Low successfully enacted the “Bubble Buddies” plan, winning all four of the Flotation Bubble Blessings, granting the whole division a 4% increase to Baserunning, Batting, Defense, and Pitching.
• Nagomi McDaniel gained the Center of Attention Blessing, giving out double rewards from Idol Snacks.
• Sutton Picklestein was resurrected and instantly traded away. Resulting in Castillo Turner entering the Shadows and Lenny Spruce taking their main roster spot.
  • Lenny Spruce is a solid four-and-a-half-star batter but falls short of Castillo Turner’s batting ability.
• The Flowers six-and-a-half-star pitcher, Nagomi McDaniel, is brought out of the Shadows and onto the rotation.

The Election results were big for Boston, increasing their weak pitching rotation into a very strong, albeit inconsistent, lineup.

Season 14

What a season that was!

The Boston Flowers finished Season 14 in 10th Place with 50 Wins, and a record of 50-49. 

The season was a near constant ride of ups and downs for Flowers fans, alternating between hope and heartbreak on a game-to-game basis as they desperately raced for a place in the Postseason.

In the end, Boston clinched a playoff seed by the slimmest of margins, narrowly beating out the Mexico Wild Wings who also held 50 Wins, thanks to having better divine favor. The Tokyo Lift and the Houston Spies both finished only a single Win behind the Flowers.

Construction Plots 

Between the Earlsiesta and the Latesiesta each team renovated and upgraded their Ballparks. Let’s see what changes happened to The Garden.

Flower Buds raised enough funding for The Garden to have two additions built during the season, the Solar Panels modifier and the PsychoAcoustics modifier. 

• The Solar Panels prevent the first Sun 2 activation of the game and convert the “Overflow” into Runs for the Flowers the next game.
• PsychoAcoustics means that in Feedback or Reverb weather the Home Team may “Echo” or copy a modifier possessed by the Away Team for the rest of the game.

Each team who built the PsychoAcoustics modifier received a bonus in the form of a player named Wyatt Mason followed by a number, all of whom had the “Echo” modifier allowing them to sometimes copy an opponent’s modifier.

The Flowers received Wyatt Mason VI. Naturally, there was a catch— if two of these players met in Feedback or Reverb weather they had a chance of both Echoing, turning them into static and removing their ability to play.

The Morning Sun

Boston started out strong: Gloria Bugsnax returned from being Elsewhere on Day 2, and they surged towards the top of the Wild Low. By the end of Day 10, the Flowers sat at the top of the Division, tied with the LA Unlimited Tacos with a 6-4 Record.

Unfortunately for the Flowers, a stay at the top was not to last, the struggle to make the Postseason would be an uphill battle.

With Gloria Bugsnax returning Scattered, along with Nic Winkler being swept Elsewhere on Day 6, the Boston Flowers faltered. Unable to regularly score runs, they dropped to the middle of the pack.

Cloudy Skies

The middle of the season was not kind to the Postseason hopefuls. Still too early for Boston’s Growth Modifier to have properly kicked in, the Flowers had great difficulties in sweeping opponents, even when heavily favored to do so. 

A moment of hope shined through the clouds when, after being swept by the Hades Tigers, the Wild High Division Leaders, they managed to turn things around and swept the Tigers cleanly on Days 31 through 33. 

As the season progressed, the walls began closing on the Flowers as the Hellmouth Sunbeams continued winning, thereby cementing their Postseason position.

Luckily for the Flowers, Day 40 brought hope. Nic Winkler returned from Elsewhere, trading places with Inez Owens. Nic turned out to be a key component of Boston’s offense with a 6-4 record in the 10 games following Winklers return.

A Photo Finish

The race to capture the final playoff spot would prove to be a marathon, and not a sprint.

By Day 67, four teams remained in contention. Representing the Wild Low were the Boston Flowers and Houston Spies, and representing Wild High were the Mexico City Wild Wings and the Tokyo Lift.

A victory against the Spies on Day 69 allowed the Flowers to catch up to and surpass the Wild Wings, putting themselves in the lead thanks to a superior tiebreaker. But the season wasn’t over and Boston had yet to face their lowest point of the season.

That moment arrived on Day 85, with the Flowers playing the Wild Wings with only a single Win between their records.

Forced into extra innings, Zesty Yaboi made a heroic sacrifice play to allow Jacob Haynes to score, giving Boston a single-run lead. Tragedy soon struck as Ronan Combes hit a home run at the bottom of the 11th, bringing Eizabeth Guerra with them and shaming the Flowers.

But there was still room for fans to despair. Day 86 saw Boston take a narrow 0-1 loss against the Wins after star pitcher Nagomi McDaniel allowed a single Run in the first Inning and their anemic offence failed to respond.

The series wasn’t over yet and on Day 87, led by Owen Picklestein, their offense came alive to crush the Wings with a 9-2 finish, and granted fans hope that their Postseason dream was still in reach.

The Flowers, Lift, Spies, and Wings managed to keep themselves in the race until the final series, and fate had assured that Wild League would come down to a photo finish with the Flowers set to play the Lift and the Spies set to play the Wings.

End of Day 96

Depending on how the final three games unfolded, any of these four teams could’ve reached the Postseason.

End of Day 97 

Mexico City Wild Wings – 50 Wins – Tiebreaker Place #21
Boston Flowers – 49 Wins – Tiebreaker Place #12
Tokyo Lift – 48 Wins – Tiebreaker Place #9
Houston Spies – 47 Wins – Tiebreaker Place #1

The Houston Spies have been eliminated from the race.

End of Day 98

Boston Flowers – 50 Wins – Tiebreaker Place #12
Mexico City Wild Wings – 50 Wins – Tiebreaker Place #21
Tokyo Lift – 48 Wins – Tiebreaker Place #9

The Tokyo Lift have been eliminated from the race.
Due to the Tiebreakers the Boston Flowers have the advantage.
If the Flowers and the Wings both Win or both Lose the Flowers will advance.

Day 99

The Boston Flowers lose 3-10 to the Tokyo Lift.
Disaster strikes, Wyatt Mason VI and Wyatt Quitter echo each other and are turned to static.
The Boston Flowers are forced to rely on the Houston Spies beating the Wild Wings to guarantee their place in the finals.

The score is 2-1, in favour of the Spies. The Wings are batting, Fran Beans is on first, Yong Wright is at the place. They swing and connect, the ball flies, and Yong Wright has hit a ground out to Morrow Wilson.

Wild Low Solidarity prevails, and the Spies win.
For the first time since Season 9, the Boston Flowers have reached the Postseason without the use of the Wildcard.

Revenge of the Wild High

Fate wasn’t done messing with the Boston Flowers and through the Wild Card the Tokyo Lift gained another chance at defeating Boston.

When struck down, the Lift became even stronger than the Flowers could possibly imagine.

The series between the Flowers and the Lift went back and forth. 

On Day 100, the Lift shut out the Flowers with seven Runs to none, but on Day 101 the Flowers battled back with Nagomi McDaniel taking the Flowers to an 8-2 victory.

However, fate had one last card to play, and on Day 101 Owen Picklestein, who was set to pitch the final game of the series, was attacked by a Consumer, damaging their already dismal pitching.

Owen Picklestein took the mound for the last time on Day 102 and held the Tokyo Lift to just two runs until the top of the eighth, where on the back of two home runs the Lift extended their lead to six runs, guaranteeing their victory. 

The final score was Tokyo Lift 6 – 2 Boston Flowers, with the series ending 2-1 in the Lifts favor.

The Flowers persisted throughout a season full of dramatic twists and turns but at the end players and fans alike can stand tall with their heads held high and say proudly, “We are the Flowers”.

Inequivalent Exchange

Mirroring their regular season, the Boston Flowers’ Election results were tumultuous.

The Boston Flowers chose to Exchange Glabe Moon for Mills’ Schneider Bendie. Both players boast three-and-a-half-stars of batting skill, but Moon has more than twice the defensive ability possessed by Bendie, making them a large defensive downgrade. 

Bendie may be batting for Season 15, but with four-and-a-half-stars in pitching, a solid opportunity exists for them to trade the plate for the mound in a future season. 

The second Will chosen by the Flowers had been their main Election goal. Flowers veteran Castillo Turner returned to action, this time joining their pitching rotation. This will be Castillo’s first time pitching outside of the Coffee Cup where they played for the runner-up FWXBC.

In return, they sent Owen Picklestein into the Shadows. Owen was a beloved member of the team, once known as the “Tank Commander” for their role in an early entry into PARTYTIME. But times have changed and Boston looks to stride towards victory. Having fulfilled their duty, fans allowed Picklestein to rest in the Shadows.

Boston was not fortunate enough to snag one of the twelve Blessings up for grabs in the Season 14 Election. Despite the loss of defensive all-star Glabe Moon, the Flowers had successfully covered the hole in their pitching rotation, leaving them well on their way to returning to the Postseason.

But the Election wasn’t over and the Baltimore Crabs had an Exchange of their own, swapping six-and-a-half-star pitcher Nagomi McDaniel for Parker Parra, a one-and-a-half-star pitcher. 

This devastating move has reopened the wound in the Flowers pitching rotation that they closed earlier in the election and poisoned their Season 15 Postseason hopes.

Regrowth

In Season 14, the Boston Flowers snuck over the finish line to make the Postseason, and with the loss of Nagomi McDaniel, they’ll have to rebuild once more before we see a serious Postseason run. Season 15 and beyond will likely see Boston attempt to fill the gap in their pitching rotation as well as make moves to improve their batting lineup, which constantly struggled to make Runs during Season 14.

As disappointing as the Election was, there’s still hope for the future. Castillo Turner is a huge upgrade from Owen Picklestein and their status as a long-time Flower may just be what Boston needs to pick themselves up again. 

It would certainly not surprise this reporter to see a Season 16 Postseason run if the Season 15 Election goes their way. 

I would like to offer some final words of hope to pained Flowers fans: Some plants flourish after a fire, and we can always grow back what we have lost.

After all we are the Flowers aren’t we?

That’s all folks!

Thank you for spending the time to read this recap, and I hope you take the opportunity to read some of the other fantastic articles that the Blaseball News Network has to offer.

Blaseball is on Siesta for two weeks, so there won’t be another recap until the end of Season 15 which returns on April 5th at 11 AM EST.

For now, it’s time for me to grow! Have a wonderful siesta!